Dr Koert de Waal was born in the Netherlands. His training as a paediatrician and neonatologist was conducted in his home country and the Dutch Caribbean with postdoctoral training at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney to master functional echocardiography. His interest is in neonatal haemodynamics, especially heart lung interactions. He completed a PhD in central blood flow measurements at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

Dr de Waal currently works as a consultant at John Hunter Children’s Hospital in Newcastle, NSW where he continues his research in neonatal haemodynamics and novel echocardiography techniques.